Quinoa Idlis

If you know me well enough, you know how much I love idlis..Don't ask me why, but it is a comfort food for me. The smell and the flavor take me back to my elementary school days without a care in the world. My mom's idlis are special. They have an extra magical ingredient because she knows I love them, her love. She pours it every step of the way, right from when she chooses the rice to the way she handles the batter just after she grinds it to the way her eyes brighten when she sees that the batter has risen enough to make her perfect little rice  cakes. It doesn't end there. The moulds that she uses are not the generic ones. This one can only make 5 idlis at a time and the batter rests on a soft muslin cloth placed on the mould. The end product is the best I've ever experienced, taste and texture wise..*sigh*.

Thankfully, she has started using the generic moulds we all use after years of prodding to reduce effort.

Anyway, I realize that have to get to the quinoa part of it.  Being a vegetarian from South India with rice as the staple made me look for ways to introduce Quinoa by tweaking the traditional recipes, like Veg Pulao, Veg Upma, Bisibelabath, Pakoras, payasam, Rotis etc. Bisibelabath and Pakoras came out very well, both in texture and taste. It was by happy accident that I first made the idlis. The quinoa I had ground for making methi rotis was in excess and I was grinding for Idli/dosa that day. So decided to experiment on a small quantity.  It came out way  better than I expected . The texture was perfect  and it tasted great. The unique taste of quinoa is something I enjoy most of the time. If you don't really care for the quinoa taste, rest assured that the milagai podi or the sambar you eat it with will take care of it for you! I used powdered quinoa and mixed it with the proportionate amount of rice and  urad dhall ground batter. This method is great for idlis.  Dosas  aren't exactly with "பட்டாட்டம் texture since the powder isn't fine enough. Alternatively, on my cousin's advice, I have tried to use a different ratio, soaked and ground it like how we would for regular dosa.  

So without futher ado, here goes...

Idlis

Quinoa 1 Cup (powdered, I used the coffee grinder)

 Idli Rice 1/4 cup

Black urad dhal 1/5 cup

Soak Rice and dhal separately  and grind to the right consistensy. Mix the quinoa powder, salt to taste and set aside for it to rise. It takes less time than the normal idli/dosa batter.

Dosas (Vidhya, is this the right ratio?)

Quinoa 2 1/4 cup

Idli Rice 1/1/4 cup

Urad Dhall 1/cup

Methi seeds 1 tsp

Hope this helps. Enjoy! Let me know if you any questions and please, do let me know how they come out!